It is not the best-case scenario when the player who garnered the most attention throughout the offseason never set foot at the team facility. Victor Cruz, unseen for months, on Friday finally signed his one-year tender and hope remains a long-term deal will get done with the explosive, popular receiver, as the clock is ticking and the June 26 reporting date for training camp grows ever closer.
Once Hakeem Nicks ended his no-show routine and arrived for the mandatory minicamp, Cruz became the lone wolf absentee in an otherwise workmanlike offseason for the Giants, coming off a 9-7 non-playoff season. They filled a few holes but attracted no headlines in free agency, concentrating on their front lines in the draft and attending to business without saying much of anything to get anyone the least bit riled up. Just the way coach Tom Coughlin prefers.
Here’s the Giants offseason rundown:
Draft
This mostly was about getting tougher and better up front, and we will have to wait until the pads are on to see what the draft wrought. OT Justin Pugh will be a starter one day, but he will have to be very good very soon to immediately beat out veteran David Diehl at right tackle. DE Damontre Moore looks as if he has natural and explosive pass-rush skills, but is he strong enough to cause some havoc right away? DT Johnathan Hankins will push for time in a rotation and S Taylor Cooper figures to be a special teams fixture as he learns the defense. As for QB Ryan Nassib, the preseason games will be his showcase, but unless he is a complete disaster the Giants aren’t cutting a guy they traded up to get.
Free agency
Most of whatever money was available to spend went to re-sign LT Will Beatty, but the addition of DT Cullen Jenkins from the Eagles might be huge. Jenkins should be able to help fortify the run defense and enliven the inside pass rush. TE Brandon Myers appears to already be developing chemistry with QB Eli Manning and could turn out to be an under-the-radar steal. Josh Brown replaced longtime kicker Lawrence Tynes and figures to fit in fine with perhaps a stronger leg. WR Louis Murphy hasn’t shown much consistency in his career, but he does have speed and made several plays in the spring. After a one-year layover in Jacksonville, CB Aaron Ross returns and might become the nickel back. Dan Connor was signed to replace Chase Blackburn at MLB but has to beat out Mark Herzlich. It remains to be seen if dusting off once-promising LB Aaron Curry will pay any dividends.
Organizational move
None significant.
Health concerns
DE Jason Pierre-Paul’s back surgery will put him on PUP to start training camp, and there’s a good chance he misses all of the preseason as he attempts to beat the clock for the regular season. A freak OTA left knee injury to FB Henry Hynoski led to a surgery that will keep him out of camp and most likely much longer. RG Chris Snee (hip) and Center David Baas (elbow) had surgeries following the season but both expect to be able to participate in training camp, though they figure to be limited. WR Hakeem Nicks wasn’t running full speed at the minicamp but he promises his knee won’t be an issue this summer.
OFFSEASON GRADE: B